Martin Heidegger called this question the most fundamental of all metaphysics:  Why is there something rather than nothing?  As author Jim Holt states, "It's a question so profound it would only occur to a metaphysician, yet so simple it would occur only to a child."Yet is the question valid?  Is something/nothing an either/or proposition?  Or as contemporary philosopher Robert Nozick states it, "So why is there something from nothing? There isn't. There's both."This question can be addressed in four different ways:     1) It's the will of God (Leibniz)     2) Existence is a brute fact and does not need a reason (Russell).       3) Quantum particles can pop into existence from nowhere (Krause).     4) It is a false dilemma - both something and nothing co-exist (Hegel) This podcast episode explores.